


oh simple thing

by kismetNemesis



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Discussion of Death, FatT Rarepair Swap, First Kiss, Flirting, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Kissing, Other, only really vague spoilers up until "the notion" but i think this is set after the gift-3 missions, the rest of the notion is there very briefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 23:30:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14820977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kismetNemesis/pseuds/kismetNemesis
Summary: It's been a long time. All things can change; some things have changed. Tender makes a decision.





	oh simple thing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bircheswatching](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bircheswatching/gifts).



> For Hauke @bircheswatching! I had to write Tenfour, I am so incredibly weak for it.

“There’s no room for me,” Tender whined, pouting and making her ears droop for effect. 

Grand, Signet, Fourteen and Gig were squished onto the couch in what was technically Gig’s room, with Even and Echo sharing an armchair. Gig had very kindly allowed everyone to use his room for the low price of someone else doing his dishes for him for the next few days. The rest of them hadn’t figured out who was going to volunteer yet, but they weren’t exactly a group known for making airtight plans.

“Come sit in front of me,” said Fourteen. It was still a shock to see their slight gray body, taking up so much less space than most of their others would. Half of their dedicated area seemed to be taken up by Signet’s dress. They were still wearing their suit pants and shirt, but their collar was unbuttoned and their tie draped loose over their neck. Tender wanted to bat at it.

Instead, she folded herself up in front of their knees, leaning her head back when they parted for her. What was she doing? She hated sitting on the floor.

“Are we ready to start?” Signet somehow managed to make everything she said sound like she was asking Tender to do a chore, but the warmth of Fourteen’s knees pressing into her shoulders made it hard to care. She simply turned the gas projector on and tried to pay attention. 

It was about fifteen minutes into the movie when Tender felt a small hand touch the top of her head tentatively. She made a small questioning noise.

“It’s nothing,” Fourteen whispered. “Is it okay if I, um.” They stroked the top of her head, and Tender pressed a grin into her hands.

“Yeah, sure.”

“Hey, can you guys be quiet? We’re watching a movie,” said Gig loudly. 

“Come on,” chided Even. “You’re the one who has to comment on how dumb every plot twist is.”

Tender was grateful that no one could see her blushing, though she wished Even didn’t feel the need to act like everyone didn’t know Fourteen was flirting with her.

She reached up and grabbed Fourteen’s hand from where it had moved back to uncertain hovering and pulled it back down onto her head.

It became harder and harder to focus on the movie. Fourteen’s hands roamed lower, past her hair and onto her neck. She sighed, let them rub her shoulders a little. Their thumbnail scraped against the nape of her neck and she had the thought, out of nowhere, that Fourteen could snap her neck like this. 

They had told her sheepishly, as if they had broken an expensive vase. _Uh, so, your ex hired me to kill you. So sorry about that, excuse me, forgive me._ The fucked up thing was that Tender _had_. It was easy when Tender could see the weight of true guilt behind their eyes, the same behind all their different eyes.

As they dug their thumbs into her muscles Tender thought about inevitability. In the age of the Miracle, nothing was set in stone. In fact, things were often more transient than Tender would like, but change was better than its opposite. Fourteen had been a bullet with her name on it. Now they felt bound for something else.

After the movie Tender made a decision. If “danger to her well-being” wasn’t her type, she didn’t know what was.

She followed Fourteen down the long hallway of _The World Without End_ , keeping her steps light but not too light. No one else watched her go, but she wouldn’t have cared if they did.

When Tender and Fourteen were a few feet away from Fourteen’s door they turned around and put their hands on their hips.

“Alright, Tender, what do you want?” It was a good question. Tender suspected Fourteen might already know the answer.

“Nothing. I mean, I was just thinking we could hang out some more.” Fourteen raised an eyebrow. “Okay, yeah. This is...” She swallowed. 

Fourteen raised their hand to touch her face, soft. “This is...?” they prompted.

“Can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

They went inside. Tender had never been in Fourteen’s room before, and all the papers scattered everywhere made her bite back a fond sigh. 

“Was this a trick to try and steal my bedroom?” asked Fourteen, teasing. Tender giggled, still nervous.

“You got me. Fourteen—” They took her hand. “Okay, god, this sounds so stupid to say. We have—a connection, right?”

Fourteen squeezed her hand. “We do.” 

“I know things are so weird right now.” For all that they had mundane things like movie nights and fights over chores—

“We’re doing an important job,” said Fourteen. “Some of us better than others.” They grinned.

“Oh, never mind! I’m not going to do it at all!” Tender tried half-heartedly to pull away. 

“Do what?”

When Tender kissed them, they made a small noise that Tender instantly knew she would never forget. They stood on their tiptoes to get a better angle and wrapped their arms around her neck.

“That’s a shame, that you’re not going to do that,” Fourteen breathed. “I think I would have liked it.”

Tender shoved at their shoulders until they stumbled backwards onto the bed, and then she put her indignation aside. 

Fourteen was in her lap a few minutes later when they pulled back and frowned. Tender’s heart sank.

“You know I’m still dying, right?” they said in a rush.

“Geez.”

“Sorry, sorry. I...” There was a brief silence.

“It’s fine. Or it’s not fine, but... I know.” 

“And I might forget you. I won’t look like this forever. It’s been a year, but I can’t keep this.” They gestured at themselves, but Tender knew they might as well be gesturing to her as well. 

_You_ were the one who was flirting with _me_ , Tender wanted to snap, but she closed her eyes and took a deep breath instead. That wasn’t fair; nothing about this was fair. 

“Forever is fake anyways. As long as you want me right now... you have me.”

“Oh, Tender.” She half expected them to follow her name with the gentle scolding that her ideas usually merited, but they just smiled, brave. Tender felt her pulse jump again as they leaned back in to kiss her again. “Okay. I’ll write that down.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you liked it, please let me know in a comment!


End file.
